ewgn-vol21-issue4-final

21
WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS FEBRUARY 2017
Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2016: EGHS-WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events
Annual Meeting of the Croatian
Society of Gastroenterology
Miroslav Simunic, MD, PhD
President
Croatian Society of Gastroenterology
From September 16th through 18th
2016, the Croatian Society of Gas-troenterology
held its regular annual
meeting. The meeting took place in
Bol on the island of Brač, and it was
attended by more than 240 gastro-enterologists
and colleagues of other
specialties, from Croatia and abroad.
Along with this event, the Association
of Nurses and Technicians in Gastro-enterology
held its own meeting.
During this conference, all areas of
gastroenterology and hepatology were
addressed, and this year’s main topics
were inflammatory diseases (microbial
as well as non-microbial) of the gas-trointestinal
system. To enhance the
organization’s and audience’s follow-up
discussion, lectures were grouped
in thematic sessions.
During the session on microbial
inflammations of the gastrointestinal
system, the importance of gut micro-biota
was discussed, accentuating its
possible influence on number of dis-eases,
especially inflammatory bowel
diseases. The influence on microbiota
(antibiotics) was also noted.
Infection with Clostridium difficile,
which becomes the leading cause of
intra-hospital acquired diarrhea, was
recognized as growing problem, and
its timely diagnosing and treatment
were stressed. The audience was
reminded of iatrogenic infections in
gastroenterology, especially after endo-scopic
procedures, and of the necessity
to adhere to guidelines for prophylaxis
and treatment.
Chronic gastric infection was as-sessed
as a possible precursor to peptic
ulcer and gastric carcinoma, especially
in light of Helicobacter pylori infec-tion.
Epidemiologic study results on
prevalence and antibiotic resistance in
Croatia were presented, and guide-lines
for treatment in Croatia were
advised.
The liver diseases session dealt
with hepatitis B epidemiologic and
therapeutic situations and possibili-ties
in Croatia. It was concluded that
absolute eradication was not possible
at this moment, but it is possible, by
treatment with pegilated interferon
and nucleoside analogues, to inac-tivate
viral replication permanently
and to prevent complications. The
importance of a vaccination program
was also stressed. Upcoming new
drugs and diagnostic tools were also
mentioned. Regarding viral hepatitis
C, its growing proportion in liver
transplantation was discussed.
Problems in diagnosing and treat-ment
of toxic hepatitis were also
assessed, as well as in some less fre-quent
diseases, such as autoimmune
hepatitis.
Finally, non-alcohol fatty liver as
a population prevalent disorder was
pointed out as among the top causes
of chronic liver diseases. Also alco-holic
liver disease, with its difficulties
in prevention and treatment, was
mentioned.
Inflammation of the biliary and
pancreatic system was also one of the
topics, as well as invasive and surgical
methods to treat it. The audience was
reminded about current guidelines for
treatment of acute cholecystitis and
acute cholangitis (Tokio 2013.). Acute
and chronic pancreatitis were also
assessed. Endoscopic and radiologic
intervention possibilities in these
diseases were presented, and also the
surgeon’s point of view, including
minimally invasive surgery.
The session on inflammatory bowel
diseases began with a presentation of
epidemiologic data of these diseases
in Croatia (showing the incidence
rates for both ulcerative colitis and
Prof. Milan Kujundzic, dr.med., Minister of
Health of Croatia
Prof. Neven Ljubicic, dr. med., ex-Minister of
Health of Croatia